Express News Service First Published : 03 Jan 2010 03:47:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 03 Jan 2010 07:58:42 AM ISTBANGALORE: Water prices may soon be hiked by the government to compensate for the difference between demand and supply of water, Minister for IT/BT and BWSSB Katta Subramanya Naidu said at the release function of the New Year diary brought out by engineers of the Bangalore Water Supply and Service Board on Saturday.The Minister said that the price rise seemed inevitable as the demand exceeded supply in the state.He said that there would be efforts to encourage institutions and other bodies to recycle sewage water and subsidies would be provided by the government. Naidu said that not all the borewells in the city were functioning and promised that he would ensure that there was one inspector for every 10 borewells.He said that the borewells were used 24 hours a day and this was affecting the water table. Efforts would be made to regulate the use of water by fixing timings. The inspectors would monitor the same, Naidu said.“The depth of the lakes in the city will be increased to accommodate more water, so that they become a source during monsoon," he said.The government was also committed to use rainwater effectively, he said. Small dams would be built on the outskirts of Bangalore to bring in more water. PB Ramamurthy, HS Basavaraju, Narayan and other officials were present on the occasion.